Tuesday, September 13, 2011

US Records Study Group: Assignment 1

As part of my goal of becoming a professional genealogist, I recently joined the US Records Study Group. The group was started by Tonia Kendrick and Valerie Elkins and will do an in-depth study of The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy and The Source. To keep myself on track and accountable to myself and the group, I will be doing my assignments here at Ancestrally Challenged.

Assignment 1-Rate organization and research evaluation skills. Set goals for improvement.

Well, there's good and there's bad. On the good side, I do generally cite my sources, keep what I've found organized, and take notes pretty much anyone should be able to decipher. On the bad side, I don't consistently use my research logs, don't write summaries of a research session so I can pick it back up later and rarely write reports so I can fully evaluate what I have found and what is missing.

My goals to improve my organization and research evaluation skills are

Use my research log every time I do research.

Write a summary of what I have already searched and ideas for future research after each research session.

Welcome to Ancestrally Challenged. I have been interested in genealogy for over 10 years, but it wasn't until 2007 that I began to pursue it seriously. This blog is to document my trials and triumphs as I trace my family history, as well as my goal to become a professional genealogist so I can help others learn more about their heritage.

The surnames tab above has information on the main surnames I research. If you have a common ancestor, think we might be related, have some information to share on one of my research interests or would like a free lookup from one of the books in my personal genealogy library, feel free to contact me. I enjoy meeting new cousins and am happy to share whatever information I have.